Customer Reviews

Firefly

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4 star:		(1)
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Rachel Loshak shows that if your songwriting is up to par, you don't need oodles of weird effects to grab the listener. Firefly has all the wide-eyed wonder of fireflies in your tent on a spring night, or a slowly floating carousel ride, all naive beauty and understated optimism.

Loshak's voice is a seductive one, soft and winning but never too sugary, her terrific sense of melody ensures you're never bored, and her song structures are fluid and engaging. She never stays on a verse for too long (such a common sin among songwriters these days). "China Doll"'s lovely melodies, ethereal harmonies and brooding mood combine to make a classic pop song; "Don't Wait" is a rich country-ish ballad; "Something Inside" is a dancing, spritely tw-minute gem with a childlike vocal, a bouncy bassline and surprising instrumental flourishes; "Fire" is an achingly romantic song, Loshak's breathy high-register voice slowly tugging at the heartstring while her rumbling bass provides an earthy contrast; "Won't You Love Me"'s fleet-footed melodies latch right onto your ears; and "Beautiful Night"'s Eastern-sounding bassline (doubled on guitar) and haunting keyboards evoke the midnight heebie-jeebies uncannily.

Only one small problem for me. This is a very bass-heavy album. A mite too much bottom end, perhaps -- which actually works well with the dreamy, bright-eyed moods Loshak aims to create. However, use it as background music and you might be charmed into blissful bubble-bath slumber (especially if you go as far as the mischievous hidden 12th track). And my home stereo couldn't handle the rumbling low end and buzzed like flights of angry flies. But with the quality of the songwriting and that beautiful voice, I'd dust off my CD walkman anytime.

I saw Rachel in concert and was mesemorized. The combination of her lyrics, vocals and the hypnotic guitar work of Jason Crigler were astounding. This is a fairy treasure!